1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to food processing machines, and more specifically to machines that slice food products.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that a carriage, in which one or more food products, such as a sausage, can be reciprocated through a path that includes a slicing blade. U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,715 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,007 disclose such devices and are incorporated herein by reference. Such machines form slices and permit the slices to fall by gravity toward a conveyor belt beneath the machine. Thus, the slices can be dropped onto substrates, such as pizza crusts, sandwich buns and plates, as the substrates are conveyed beneath parts of the machine.
Typical drive mechanisms for the aforementioned machines include a rotary motor (such as hydraulic, pneumatic or electric) that rotates a belt or chain around a pulley or gear that is connected to the carriage, and linear prime movers, such as hydraulic or pneumatic rams. The drive mechanism commonly extends across a central region of the machine and attaches centrally to the carriage. This prior art configuration has the disadvantage that such drive mechanisms create contaminants, such as dust and lubricant drops, that can fall into the food. In order to avoid this, the drive mechanism must have shields around it. However, such shielding provides numerous horizontal surfaces in the zone above the food substrates and/or slices to collect dust, food particles and other residue of the food processing facility. All surfaces must be cleaned frequently to avoid residue from building up and dropping into the food, but access to the shielded areas is not easily obtained.
The prior art, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,741, which is incorporated by reference, also teaches to slice food products using a pair of aligned pulleys, one of which is driven by a motor, around which a blade is wound and driven in the manner of a band saw. The apparatus consists of a motor mounted to one side of a food slicing machine, and an idler pulley mounted on the opposite side of the machine. The blade extends around the pulleys and is tightened and tracked by a mechanism that also provides many horizontal surfaces upon which food particles can collect.
Additionally, the blade extends through a blade guide which mounts to the machine's frame and which has a slot through which the blade extends. The blade guide must be adjusted so that its slot is almost perfectly flat in order to obtain uniform slice quality and thickness, and to prevent substantial wear of the blade driven rapidly therethrough. However, adjustment of the blade guide is typically accomplished using shims between two surfaces, which is difficult for anyone other than an accomplished technician to achieve, and is time-consuming even for skilled technicians. Maintaining blade guide configuration throughout the useful life of the machine, which will include numerous blade guide changes, must be achievable without high skill level and time consumption.
Still further, the slicing apparatuses of food slicing machines are often similar along an entire food slicing product line, but must be individually designed for each different food slicing machine.
Therefore, the need exists for a new food slicing machine with an improved drive mechanism, better slicing apparatus, better adjustment of the blade guide and band blade, and fewer surfaces upon which contaminants can collect.